Petals, In Her Wake
by KarismaticKoala
Summary: Her eyes spin dizzyingly in the light of the sun, silver-white and more beautiful than anything he's ever seen. For a long, bird-sung moment, time grinds to a halt, and he can feel in his bones and his heart of hearts and every corner of his body that he'd just found something that he hadn't known he was searching for - something to call home.
1. Chapter 1

_**The RWBY series does not belong to me. This is not for profit - please don't sue me. **_

_**To Ink: thank you for encouraging me to write.**_

* * *

Jaune just managed to stifle a snort when Ruby passed their impromptu comic back to him, instead making it come out like a strangled cough. He could feel Weiss pin him with another one of her well-practised _shut up or I'll make you_ glares before he even looked at her, and he unconsciously shrunk into his seat, trying to make himself smaller in the face of her ire. When she finally turned back to her own work, he relaxed enough to properly look at what Ruby had drawn.

Done in her hasty, light-stroked style, he saw an obvious imitation of Weiss, tall and menacing and holding a ridiculously large Myrtenaster, jump into the scene, cracks digging into the pavement under her heels. Ruby had even taken the effort to draw shadows around Weiss' features, making her stand out in sharp relief from the bare-bones background. It had become a sort of tradition for them to draw comics while they studied with their teams in the library. It helped a lot to keep them awake, even though they were significantly less productive, much to Weiss' despair. She'd given up on trying to stop them from being distracted, however, once she'd figured out that going to the library at all was a big step for them.

Looking at the storyline of this particular comic, though, he could tell it was coming to a close. It was a common motif that once Weiss appeared, poor mini-Jaune wouldn't last much longer (and if anybody asked, it was entirely coincidence that villain-Weiss was a recurring theme, and it definitely did not mean anything, or reflect on her in any way). He rolled his pencil between his fingers as he thought about what he wanted to draw, before an idea hit him. The end of his pencil shook madly as he sketched out a familiar suitcase with the Schnee dust symbol, and a small girl in a hooded cape passing by. As he drew, he looked up at Ruby, blue and silver meeting briefly, before he focused on the comic again, channeling his attention in a way study never would.

Her bright eyes widened in delight as he slid the sheet back across the table, and she looked up at him in faux mortification, her tiny fist pressed to her mouth to hide her smile. He couldn't stop his own answering smile from spreading across his face, and he found himself re-reading the same sentence on his screen as he continued to watch her reaction in his peripheral vision.

It always amazed him what a friend he had made in Ruby – they both felt awkward and out of place, both loved comics, both were made leaders of teams that were so well-accomplished and capable that they often wondered what Ozpin was thinking (although he'd argue that in this case, it was considerably worse for him). More recently, he'd found out in one of their nighttime rooftop talks that she was two years younger – he wanted to kick himself for not seeing the glaring signs – and they'd bonded over how inadequate they felt for their respective positions. He hadn't said it then, but he was about to confess to her how he'd made his way into Beacon, which scared him a little, because he'd been prepared to take that secret with him to the grave. There was just something about her innocent, wide eyes, and her deep honesty that liberated him from his shame of his own self.

He turned to his right when Pyrrha nudged him lightly.

"I've found some suitable sources to cite for the mechanisms behind incompatibility between unlike dust types," she said, keeping her voice low to not disturb the others. "If you need them, I can send them over to you."

"Wait – the what now?"

"The lab report that's due on Friday – most of the discussion questions require citations," she said, raising one of her finely-kept eyebrows at him, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"_Huh_?"

He forgot to keep his voice down, and this time, Weiss slammed her pen onto the table with a resounding _snap_, making Blake's bow twitch suspiciously, her narrowed eyes locking onto him for the second time. Hey, so it was okay for _her_ to make noise? Where was the justice?

"I mean, don't we just have to submit our individual results?" He lowered his voice and tried to forget about her, turning back to Pyrrha. He hadn't figured out how to thank her for it, but she was like a safe-haven that protected him from Weiss. He didn't question why Weiss was unwilling to confront him aggressively in front of his partner; he just knew it worked, and had been depending on it since the first time he noticed. It was just one of the many reasons that made Pyrrha the best partner in the world.

"… Jaune, at least look at the report before making conclusions about its contents," she sighed, not quite unsurprised. He just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly in response.

She was about to turn back to her own work when she decided to look at his screen. He was almost insulted when she did a double-take, her half-smile completely melting off her face as she looked between him and his work, reading incredulously.

"This is content from _four weeks ago_," she whispered, enunciating her last few words slowly. Honestly, she made it sound worse than it really was. It was just hard to focus in his dorm with Nora around – and whose idea was it to get Super Smash?

Ruby chose that moment to push the piece of paper back to him, and he felt a little embarrassed when his partner sighed deeply.

"I'll catch up after the lab report," he promised her. He could always come back and work on his own later, anyway. For now, he had something more important to do.


	2. Chapter 2

The King of Bad Decisions, Jaune decided, had to be him. He flopped his arm back over his eyes to cut out the glare of the harsh ceiling lights, gasping for breath in a puddle of his own sweat. He didn't even have the energy to crawl a few paces to his towel. _Just breathe_, he thought to himself, trying to ignore the burning pain in his left shoulder, where his aura still flickered weakly, or the numbness slowly spreading up his limbs from his extremities.

The keen screeching of metal on metal started up again to his right, accompanied by the tell-tale sound of Ruby zipping around with her semblance, her boots hardly scuffing the polished timber floor.

"Whoo! Go get her, sis!" Yang, somehow louder than the fight all the way from the bleacher stands on the other side, cheered her sister on in her fight.

Jaune turned his head slowly to see some of the fight, groaning as his shoulder protested even the tiny motions. It was obvious from the pace of the fight and the rose petals all around the arena, fluttering in the air, that Ruby had been pulling punches. Even if it really didn't feel that way.

Ever since coming to Beacon, he'd been hit with reminder after reminder of how poorly he measured up with his teammates. All of them were beyond patient with him, never showing even the slightest bit of annoyance (except Weiss, who had enough to cover the other six of them), but even their kindness weighed like rocks on his shoulders.

And so, he had taken to waking up early every day to work on his strength and stamina, and spending his late afternoons practising with his equipment to grow familiar with it. He'd managed to snag a tutor in Pyrrha – and who better than the four time champion? – who helped him develop his form, footwork, and battle reflexes. His rapid improvement led to him growing hopeful – big, big mistake – and just earlier, he'd asked Ruby for a practice bout.

For a girl so small, her strength surprisingly surpassed his as she built up speed – which, considering her semblance, was basically all the time. He hadn't been prepared for how heavy the impact of her sniper rounds would be, each pushing him back a couple paces, or how insanely fast and far-reaching her scythe was in melee combat. There was nothing quite so emasculating as having a girl not even half his size throw him physically around the training ring.

He groaned again into the crook of his elbow, rolled over painfully, and, taking a moment to gather his strength, slowly pushed himself onto his feet again. Hearing footsteps in front of him, he looked up just in time to glimpse a full head of bright blonde hair before catching a towel with his face.

"Goddammit, Yang," he grunted, briefly considering just leaving it there. He could see her shit-eating grin even through the weave of the fabric

"Looking – and smelling – great, vomit boy," she greeted, her voice sounding far too chipper for his liking. "Have to say, you were really something out there."

"… Thanks?" He paused, immediately suspicious, but his brain was too fogged up with exhaustion to figure out why. Pulling the towel off his head, he eyed her warily through the sparse curtain of his sweaty bangs.

"You looked so cool in your shining armour, too," she fake swooned, but the malicious expression on her face ruined the image. "I had to take some pictures – I hope you don't mind. The women of Beacon need some eye candy to get through the week."

He stopped in his tracks, halfway bent down to retrieve his shield, his blood draining from his face.

"W-wait, you don't mean –"

"That I took pictures of the fight?" she said, now leaning on one leg and her hand on her hip. "You got that one right, bucko."

He tilted his head back and groaned. Everybody knew how strong Ruby was, but it wouldn't help his already-shaky image any.

"What the hell do you want, Yang?"

"_Weeeeeeeeell_," she said, tapping her chin and pretending to think for a second, "I figured maybe next time I could help you practise? I'll be very_, very _helpful, I promise."

"You mean you want to use me as a punching bag too? I'll pass," he said, rolling his eyes. "I know you're sore about losing to Pyrrha, but I'm sure you can find someone else to help you rebuild your fragile ego."

Perfect delivery. He didn't expect to use the anti-Yang line he'd practiced in his morning shower already, but seeing her stunned expression, he decided that it was definitely worth it.

"Wha – no – _you_," she seethed, her hair spontaneously igniting in a white-hot fire.

Jaune turned and walked away, a smug jaunt to his step, but didn't make four paces before something very hard and very fast smacked him in the back of his head. His aura was too weak to do anything, and his face was painfully reacquainted with the floor before his arms could even think about breaking his fall.

He was becoming very familiar with the feeling of passing out, he briefly mused, a moment before he was engulfed in a wave of darkness.

* * *

"… really have to throw a _chair_ at his head?"

"Guys, I don't think this is the best place to –"

"Hey, it was that or the tables!"

"Keep it _down_, children, or you can wait in the hallway."

"S-sorry."

"I apologise on my teammate's behalf, Miss Foxglove. I promise it won't happen again."

"… Suck up."

"_Excuse me?_"

"Out. _Now_."

Jaune cracked open his eyes after the footsteps receded to see a very familiar face. The school medic, Senna Foxglove, glanced down at him, looking more than a little put-off. Brushing her bangs back out of the way, she put her hands on her hips.

"I'm starting to see a common theme here, Arc. You must love your needles," she said dryly, handing him the glass of water that was already sitting on his bedside table.

"Heh, sorry," he croaked. He propped himself up on his sore arms dizzily – the huge lump on the back of his head didn't help – and accepted the water gratefully, almost choking as he gulped it down hungrily. He hadn't had a chance to drink since his workout, and he was unbearably thirsty.

Looking down at himself, he noticed a new compressive sleeve on his shoulder to match with the assortment of bandages and wraps. He poked at it curiously; Foxglove was good at what she did, semblance or no, and with a flesh wound like that, it was already halfway healed.

"Nothing very serious this time," she said, walking away, her tied hair bouncing in time with her steps. "Try to keep it that way for another couple days, at least? I'm getting tired of seeing your mug day in and day out."

It wasn't until she disappeared into her personal office that he swung his legs off the bed and pushed himself onto his feet, leaning slightly on the table. He smiled wryly at the lack of paperwork waiting for him. He'd been in and out of the infirmary so many times that Foxglove had stopped bothering with formal procedures and record-taking.

Picking up his scroll from the table, he saw that Ruby had sent him a few messages just some fifteen minutes ago.

_Sorry about the fight! I'm not used to holding back, and kinda took it too far :( please don't be mad? _

_I put your stuff back into your locker, so don't worry about it!_

_Oh, and uh_

_you mIGHt wanna invest in a new shoulder guard…_

Smiling to himself, he pocketed the device and slowly made his way to the sliding door of the infirmary. He took a moment to adjust his shirt before pushing it aside, and stepped into the warmer air of the corridor. Yang, Blake, and Weiss blinked up at him, stopping in the middle of their conversation.

"So, uh… where's Ruby?"

"She went back to wash up," Weiss said, sitting a little straighter. "I'd only fought for a brief moment when Yang, er, rendered you unconscious, so I didn't really need to."

He looked at Yang as she said this, who fidgeted awkwardly on the spot, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Well, uh… thanks for waiting outside, guys, I really appreciate it, but I'll be fine walking to the dorms-"

"I-I'll walk you back," Yang butted in, sounding rather uncomfortable at first, "you know, just in case?"

He figured that she wanted to apologise away from the others, so he agreed.

"Just give me twenty seconds' head-start if we come across any chairs," he joked, and she seemed to relax a bit.

"You're overestimating yourself if you think that's enough," she warned, her playful smile now back in place. Turning back, she waved to the others. "See you in the library later?"

Weiss nodded, and followed after Blake, who'd just walked away silently. He set out in the opposite direction with Yang next to him. It didn't take very long for her to gather her courage.

"Hey, sorry for throwing the chair at you," she said. "I kinda just reacted, you know? Forgot that you'd be low on aura."

"Eh, it's fine," he shrugged, " you hardly did anything compared to your sister, anyway. I had no idea she was so strong."

"She's amazing, right?" Yang was beaming, her pride shining through in her voice. "It's amazing to see how fast she's grown. It hasn't even been that long since she was running into trees."

He hummed his agreement.

They were quiet for a while as they passed through the gardens. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, but the sky was still afire with its light, with warm orange and wistful lilac tones stretching across the distant horizon. Of course, Yang had to break the moment first.

"Didn't expect you to try to actually catch her scythe, though," she snickered. "Brilliant move."

"… You couldn't let that go, could you?"

"In your dreams, Vomit Boy."

* * *

Jaune screwed his dry eyes shut and pressed the palms of his hands into his face as the words swam off the page for the fourth time that minute. He'd been catching up on his work in the library since after dinner, which had been quite a few hours ago. But over the last half-hour or so, he'd gotten next to nothing done. It was close to midnight, and he'd been up at the crack of dawn, training. At this point, if he was lucky, he'd catch almost a full five hours' worth of sleep before he woke up the next day, and started the routine all over again.

He yawned into his fist, blinking tears away, and stood up slowly, pushing his chair back with his legs and gathering his belongings. Looking around, most of the desks were dark and empty, with only a few others lighting up the gloom with their warm, yellow light. He stood aside and pushed the chair back in, and, with his notes and his scroll tucked under one arm, made his way towards the main doors. Walking past his row of tables and the bookshelves behind them, he paused as he spotted a familiar red cape slumped over one of the individual study cubicles. His footsteps on the carpet as he made his way over to her rasped loudly in the dead stillness of the near-empty library.

Ruby was passed out in the white-blue light of the terminal with her head on her arms. Strewn about her were scribbled notes and data in her scratchy hand. A small line of drool ran down the side of her cheek and onto her sleeves, shining a faint silver in the dim light.

A glance at the clock confirmed the time as half-past eleven.

"Ruby," he whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.

Her brow crinkled slightly and she stirred slowly, her eyes cracking open to reveal slim crescents of silver. Sitting back slowly and unfurling her arms, she yawned tiredly.

"Jaune? What are you-?" She spoke blearily, still not completely woken up.

"I was working on the same stuff you were, but it's getting late and I'm heading back," he replied, leaning towards her and keeping his voice low. "I thought I'd wake you up, so you can at least sleep more comfortably in your room."

She checked the time, rubbed her eyes, and checked it again.

"Ugh," she grunted intelligently. Halfway through packing her things, she paused and turned her face away from him, furiously swiping at her cheek. He fiddled with his scroll and watched her out of the corner of his eyes, hiding his smile and pretending not to notice.

As they pushed through the revolving door and stepped into the open night air, they were greeted by a wall of frigid air. Ruby shivered and pulled her hood over her head, her surprised gasp condensing in the night air. The cold seemed to wake her up completely, her bright, silver eyes now wide open and drinking in the shattered moonlight.

"Did you get much done today?"

He posed the question as they made their way across the main walkway connecting the library with the rest of the campus. Most of the lamps were switched off, and the normally busy pathway was devoid of people.

"Not enough to get Weiss to agree to let me out on the weekend," she said, huffing in annoyance. "It's like I'm not the team leader, or even capable of making my own decisions. _And_, she _still_ won't let me play with Myrtenaster. It's so unfair! She expects me to be as good as – wait, no, she expects me to be _better_ – than everyone else. Never mind that I'm, like, _two years_ younger than everyone else!"

He laughed quietly as he walked beside her, watching her wave her arms wildly. As she continued her tirade, he felt his own tiredness melt away, dissipating in the cool air.

"And you know what? Just earlier today, Yang threw me under the bus to get Weiss away from herself! I can't believe it! I'm going to get her back, somehow…"

She grew quieter as she drafted her grand revenge plan, gripping her chin in thought comically.

"Well, from what I remember," he offered, "Blake has a brush and ink set that she uses for her calligraphy. Maybe she'll let you borrow it – you know, for a common enemy?"

Ruby stopped and turned around abruptly, seizing his arm, moonlight spinning dizzyingly in her silver eyes as she considered the possibilities.

"Jaune Arc," she whispered fervently, "_you_ are a _genius_."

"Don't let Weiss hear you say that," he joked.

"Eh, neither of us listens to a word the other says, anyway. It'd probably fly right over her head."

"Just like almost anything else?"

She looked suspiciously at him for a moment, and seeing his smug expression, shoved him and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, mister, quit smirking at me. Not all of us are blessed with the tall genes!"

He deliberately lengthened his stride so she struggled to keep up.

"Hey – _hey!_ Stop that!"

He kept up his pace, and eventually she gave up and zipped ahead with her semblance, deep crimson petals, near black in the dim light, fluttering in her wake.

"You have a speed-based semblance," he said teasingly, "but you struggle to walk quickly?"

"You have a shield," she retorted, "but you figured it was a good idea to hug my scythe?"

He winced a little in response.

"Alright, I think getting hit by that was punishment enough," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I don't need the entirety of RWBY lining up to remind me about that."

She looked down for a bit as he drew close to her, fidgeting with her notes.

"Is your shoulder okay? You were pretty low on aura, and I really didn't expect you to do that…"

He immediately felt bad for complaining and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's fine," he said. "Miss Foxglove patched me up, and gave me some aura boosters to help. It hardly even hurts anymore."

She looked relieved, even though she'd probably heard from her own teammates that he was fine. He smiled to himself at her heartwarming concern.

They reached the dorms soon after, and when he stopped outside, Ruby turned back to look at him.

"I don't feel very tired anymore," he explained. "You can go in first. I'll head in after a bit."

She hesitated, one hand hovering near the door handles. For a moment, he thought she would ask to join him, but she gave him a small smile, and ducked inside after saying a quick goodnight.

He took the moment to look out from the cliffs of Beacon towards the city, lying beyond the vast darkness of the Emerald Forest. With the slowness of the breeze, the heavy air was laden with dust and smoke from the city, and the lights were nebulous and uncertain, a twinkling sea of manmade stars.

It had only been a few months, he realised, but he'd already begun to think of this view, this school, and his dorm – Nora and all – as home. Even the people he'd met – Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Ruby, and the rest – made him feel like he genuinely belonged around them, in a way that made most of his friendships back in Ansel feel lacking in comparison.

He stayed outside, watching the city and marvelling at how his life had unfolded and wondering what would follow, until his fingertips grew numb and the tips of his ears began to hurt.

_**A/N: Okay, so I'm not accustomed to writing multiple chapter stories. I'll figure out chapter lengths sometime in the future.**_

_**I'm also writing this at 1am, when I have an 8am class that takes an hour to travel to. Go me. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Jaune wiped his sweaty palms on his shorts before jabbing at the controller with his almost-cramping thumbs, his eyes fixed and unblinking on the holographic screen of their console. He'd spent countless hours over the years honing this one skill of his, and this particular game – Super Smash Ultimate – was the quintessential friendly dueling game. His top five characters were all comfortably within the elite tier in online competitive rankings. This was the only thing, growing up, he could ever defeat his sisters in.

_Grow up and do something useful,_ they told him.

_Beat my Ike,_ he'd reply.

Except now, this last bastion of security and self-worth was being torn down, stone and mortar, by Ruby. Even as he tried to tag her with his longer ranged aerial moves, she'd respond quickly, nimbly moving just out of reach until he exhausted his jumps or overextend himself. He should've expected it from her though, in hindsight. She'd need a ridiculously fast reaction time to go with her semblance.

A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face despite the mild spring weather, and he wiped his palms again. He glanced at her, leaning against the same pillow next to him, when an idea came to him. Just as he approached her avatar, he blew in her ear, and as she seized up in surprise with a high-pitched 'eep!', he managed to sneak in a grab which chambered into a deadly textbook combo, leaving them both on their last lives.

He winced as she drove an elbow viciously into his ribs in retaliation. Her eyes gleamed with a competitive fire as she glared up at him.

"Oh, you're in for it, mister," she growled.

She leaned into him as she concentrated on the game, her ear turned into his shoulder to protect herself and her arm blocking her sides where they both knew she was most vulnerable. He tried to focus on the game, but her hair was directly in his line of vision, almost tickling his cheek, and every time he tried to block it from his mind, he would smell something full and sweet and very _Ruby_.

With his divided attention, she threw him around the stage, and in less than a minute, the controllers slipped from their fingers, hers in victory, and his in reluctant defeat.

"Ha! Losers remain losers, loser," she crowed, face glowing with delight. He couldn't help but share in her joy even in the wake of his crippling defeat. "You couldn't win even when cheating. Ruby 3, Vomit Boy 0!"

She pumped her fists in excitement, crowing and rubbing it in his face, so he responded in the most appropriate manner - attacking her now exposed sides. She immediately flailed and kicked and squirmed the way he knew she would, shrieking with laughter so loudly that he took a moment to thank God that Weiss was having tea with her sister.

"H-Hey," she gasped breathlessly between laughter, "stop, s-stop! Time-out!"

"Vomit Boy gets at least a 1," he said, grinning manically.

"P-p-please," she managed, before shrieking another octave higher as he moved onto her ribs as well. He fancied that Ozpin heard that one, all the way up in his clock tower.

Okay, maybe he had another talent going for him; call it a special survival skill from growing up with seven sisters. Ruby, about the same size as his youngest sister, never stood a chance. The sheets were all bunched up and tangled in their legs, restricting her movements as she tried with no success to avoid his hands. He let up a little as she slowed down, gasping for breath, and leaned back on his ankles.

And was promptly socked in the face by one of her tiny feet, launching him all the way across the small bed. It was so sudden his aura didn't even kick in until her foot was close enough for him to taste, leaving him bouncing on the mattress and seeing stars.

"… _ow_," he groaned. At least it wasn't his nose.

"Oh," she said breathily, shuffling towards him on her hands and knees, "uh, are you okay?"

"Give me a few seconds and I'll be fine," he said, waiting for his world to stop swimming.

He cracked open his eyes to see her above him, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, a small smile lingering on her face despite the concern brimming in her bright eyes. Her hair, afire in the afternoon light, hung down to frame her face, revealing the gentle curve of her neck. Following it with his eyes, he noticed that it was slimmer than he originally thought, curving gently down from her jaw to blend with the rest of her body just above her collarbones. Her shirt, still wrinkled from sleep, hung down just enough for him to see the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He suddenly remembered the position they were in and snapped his eyes back up as quickly as he could, meeting hers, where she now looked somewhat uncertain.

She drew back quickly, folding her arms close to herself, eyes looking anywhere but at his. Her blush now looked more like it was from embarrassment than their playing earlier. He realised they'd forgotten to turn off the console, the battle theme repeating in the background the entire time.

"I'll, uh, turn this off now," he said, her smell still lingering in his nostrils and his mind whirling with Ruby and her neck and her eyes and her messy hair.

"Y-yeah, that's good – a good idea, is what I mean," she half-mumbled, reaching to grab the controllers after a pause.

When he'd flipped the power switches off, he stood up slowly and turned around. Ruby was loosely holding the controllers, lost in her thoughts, and the others were due to be back sometime soon anyway, so he excused himself quietly and headed out.

He stopped when he was outside to collect his thoughts and calm his breathing, trying to purge from his mind how she smelled and the way the warm light pooled and ran over her skin. A few moments later, he changed directions to head towards the rooftop instead, where he was able to think best.

.

* * *

,

Inside, Ruby sat on the bed with her thumping heart for company, the controllers lying forgotten next to her. She was used to guys looking at Yang and could spot the signs from a mile away. It was one of the things she really liked about Jaune; he never gave Yang special attention or tried to sneak quick peeks. Although it was just decent behaviour, it gave her confidence that he was friends with her for _her_, not her sister. It mattered more to her than their shared awkwardness and enthusiasm for all things geeky.

What she wasn't used to, though, was guys looking at her instead. She'd have to have been blind to not notice his eyes trailing, or the way his pupils dilated even in the abundant light. Oh God, he'd been staring… and she hadn't even _moved_. Her cheeks resumed burning again. Thankfully, Yang hadn't been anywhere nearby. If she'd gotten a picture… Ruby shuddered at the thought.

Her family gave her trouble for being oblivious, but it tended to stem from her social anxiety rather than an inability to notice things. They'd steadily been growing closer as friends and she could see them becoming best friends further down the track. But sometimes, things like this happened, and left her feeling breathless and confused.

The image of his piercing eyes popped back into her head, alternating layers of cyan and navy folding and twisting as his irises dilated. He'd looked as if he were stunned. Because of her combat training, she could tell from a glance that all the strength had fled from his posture.

Oh God.

She'd been _on top of him. _And he'd been _staring_.

She flushed again for the hundredth time.

Ruby sat in the same spot, eyes fixed but unseeing until Weiss came back – still beaming from her time with her sister (as much as Weiss-cream could beam, anyway) – trying to reconcile the contradicting feelings in her chest.

;

* * *

:

"… was sitting on her bed in a daze, face all red, and her bed was a _huge_ mess," Yang was regaling the cafeteria table, arms waving avidly. Jaune stumbled and almost dropped the tray he was carrying. He noticed Ruby sitting unnaturally stiffly, her wooden expression betrayed only by the pink at the ends of her ears.

"Oh my," Pyrrha smiled knowingly behind her hand, playing along (he hoped).

"She hardly responded to us when we talked to her until we mentioned Jau-"

"_Aaaaand_ that's enough from you," Ruby almost yelled, eyes wild with panic and her hands clamped firmly around Yang's mouth. He could still see her shit-eating grin, though.

He tried to sit inconspicuously in the empty spot next to Ren, the most reliable, calm person present, but Blake and Weiss both rounded on him.

"If you want to do something, do it someplace else, Arc, or I swear _I will end you_," Weiss snarled. "Doing something like that at school – when my sister was around, no less!"

She continued to rant, but everyone tuned her out with familiarity born from frequent practice.

"If you need the dorms to yourselves, you just need to ask," Blake drawled.

"Nothing like that happened, okay; if you want some smut, just browse your book collection," he retorted, trying to fight the warmth rising up his neck. Even under her bow, he could see her ears flatten to her scalp.

"For the last time, they're not smut! It's a gritty and realistic portrayal of friendships and relationships, and I read it for the plot–"

Yikes, with so many preachers plus Yang around, it was a wonder Ruby ever got a wink of sleep.

He turned around when he felt a touch at his shoulder. Nora, completely plastered to Ren's other side, was smiling at him. She gave him a big thumbs-up.

"I always believed in you, fearless leader," she chirped.

His fork clattered on the tabletop. He needed new friends, fast…

* * *

**A/N:**

**Three cheers for holidays! It's been crazy busy, and being able to write again feels good (ngl, it's also because I'm overseas so I can't binge Elementary). Hope you guys enjoyed this; I know I did.**

**P.S. I lied about chapter lengths last time. I guess it'll just be whatever I feel like :/**


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